Reminders about health insurance sign-ups are everywhere

Wednesday

Mar 12, 2014 at 11:08 AM

Melissa Westphal

People without health insurance have 19 days left this month to enroll before the March 31 deadline imposed by the Affordable Care Act.

I heard a reminder this morning about the health insurance sign-up process while getting ready for work. A Get Covered Illinois advertisement played over the Pandora Internet radio station streaming from my smartphone.

The group is targeting younger people through sites such as The Onion and Buzzfeed because the expanded Medicaid program and the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace need young, healthy people enrolled to balance out older and sicker enrollees who use more services and cost more money to cover.

That “Between Two Ferns” video featuring President Barack Obama and actor Zack Galifianakis you might have seen trending Tuesday on social media was also a plug for Healthcare.gov.

A story from Poynter discussed Obama’s interaction with entertainment and social media outlets and also included a tweet from a White House adviser who said FunnyorDie.com, the host for the “Ferns” video, was the No. 1 source of referrals to the health insurance website on Tuesday.

More than 100 people sought help signing up for health insurance at an enrollment event Tuesday at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford. Trained navigators will be hosting sign-up events in the coming weeks to reach more people before the March 31 deadline.

The Winnebago County Health Department has walk-in hours daily available for people who need help navigating insurance options. There are also computers there to use if you want to sign up on your own.

I’m writing a story for this weekend about what happens if people don’t sign up for health insurance by March 31. People will face penalties if they don’t sign up, but some would rather pay the penalty than pay for insurance.

Are you planning to skip the health insurance sign-up process this year and pay the penalty instead? I’d like to hear from you. Call me at 815-987-1341 or email me at mwestphal@rrstar.com.